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| Sunday, 8 August 2004 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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'India won't repeat its past mistakes' - N. Ram
Question: What are your views on the present situation of the peace process in Sri Lanka? Answer: The peace process is a worthwhile one. Nobody in the right mind believes that there can be a military solution to the conflict. Sri Lanka's principal national problem is the ethnic crisis or ethnic conflict or Tamil problem- you can call it any way. There were attempts to solve this problem in the 1980s. India's contribution was negative at that time. Now, Indian policy has been corrected and it sees well what rights and wrongs are and makes overall positive contribution without intervention. Politically India is clear that it should not repeat the kind of intervention it did in 1980s. That lesson is learnt and it supports the peace process in Sri Lanka. This problem is essentially a Sri Lankan one. India will make its contribution in re-building and peace-building efforts. Since the LTTE is persona non-grata in India, it has peculiar problems. It cannot engage in any multilateral process where the LTTE is a party, for that is against Indian law and politics. I see the proposal on Interim Self-Governing Authority in this context. We know what kind of organisation the LTTE is. It is not just an extremist organisation but also Pol Pottist. At the same time it represses democracy. It is a militarily powerful, well organised and disciplined organisation. Therefore, if we study any proposal from the LTTE mildly, it is clearly undemocratic and endangers the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. The proposal suggests no democratic mandate and if we handed over the territory completely to the LTTE it would be dangerous. Let us see the North because the East is a difficult preposition. I do not have enough information to judge how LTTE is weakened militarily and politically in the East. But, I think it is a crisis for them. The Karuna revolt was a point of no return. But it is not Karuna's revolt. I think it is an alienation of the people of the East including Tamils from the LTTE for a very large measure. Literally there is huge repercussions, and politically too. It is worthless to say that Karuna is there and try to blame the political system, perhaps the government. The government has nothing to do with it, basically, except that Karuna was not allowed to be killed. Some protection of Karuna is good thing. Karuna is the only LTTE leader of significance, the only Tamil leader of significance, because he got away revolting with the Pol Pottish leadership of Pirabaharan. He too recruited children in the East. The fact that somebody broke away and did not pay with his life is a positive sign. I see only the merits of the issue. Douglas Devananda was also able to survive. It is good. What it shows is that the LTTE would not tolerate any rival in their arena.The East is different now. It has a huge reason to worry. I see from newspapers that LTTE cadres are to be transported by helicopters of the security forces. This reflects the situation in the East. Therefore, in this context, the ISGA proposal means that it has to be within the unity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. This is what the international community has agreed. There is not a single government of any country in the world to my knowledge that supports the idea that is outside the framework of unity and sovereignty of Sri Lanka. You can't give away the territory like that. But it is the business of the government, people and parties of Sri Lanka to decide how much autonomy they want to give. It is good if they could talk to it. Q: What is the Indian position on this issue? A: The Indian official position of the Vajpayeee government was reiterated even more strongly by Manmohan's regime. The Interim Government solution should be a part of a final solution. This is an Indian understanding. This is only an opinion. This is how India sees the agenda.It is for the Sri Lankan government, people and parties to decide this issue without any external pressures. To give more autonomy or less is their problem. But India can support the peace process politically and morally. There were a great number of achievements in the 80s. But President Kumaratunga brought about a breakthrough. It was widely perceived that she was the first leader with non-chauvinistic vision, since 1994. She was courageous and in the process she lost one of her eyes. What I admire in her is that she has not been deterred, daunted by twists and turns. Everybody makes mistakes. But President Kumaratunga must get the credit for the breakthrough. The President and the Government are deeply committed to the peace process. They reiterated that this would not affect the peace process even after the suicide bomber reached Douglas very closely. This is a great thing. Now the ceasefire is in effect. But parties to this negative peace really hope the LTTE would not return to its military ways. Of course there will be tremendous international opposition to that. Q: Do Tamil Nadu politicians have a say in the decisions of the Central Government of India on Sri Lankan issue? A: I completely disagree with Vaiko's views on the future of Northeast of Sri Lanka. He is an ardent supporter of Eelam and also an admirer of the LTTE. It is an open secret. He made this public. But one thing must be mentioned. Vaiko does not want Indian intervention. He also does not want militants to come to Tamil Nadu. As far as the DMK, Mr. Karunanithy and Dayanidhi Maran are concerned they are not in any kind of sympathy with the LTTE. They have always made distinction between Tamil cause and the LTTE. On the question of extradition of Pirabaharan it is related with law. But the Indian government does not want to make that an obstacle to peace process. It must be understood that successive governments including the BJP and the Congress led governments support peace process but not the LTTE. In India we face similar problems in Andhra Pradesh. Former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu failed to solve the problem. However, the present Congress government in that State has taken a different view. It has decided to engage in talks with the Peoples War Group, whose tentacles spread over to various States including Bihar, Jharkand, Chattisgarh etc. There are economic causes and they should be addressed. In solving these problems we are learning from Sri Lanka. The Central government hopes to pursue a moderate policy, that is negative peace. Q: How are the Indo-Pak relations at present? A: There is detente between India and Pakistan. We must engage in negotiations. Withdrawing diplomats, cancelling cricket matches and so on will not bring positive results but deteriorate the situation further. Present Indian government does not support military solutions to any problem. It strives for a negotiated settlement. During the period of Rajiv Gandhi there was a breakthrough in Indo-China relations. Both countries agreed not to use force along their border. So a negative peace is prevailing now. The relations between the two countries constantly grow with strength. This is a good example for Indo-Pakistan relations. President Musharaf is a military dictator. But he has inclinations towards democratic process, and respected by his people. So, the need for peaceful engagement has grown considerably. |
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| Editorial | Security Produced by Lake House |
N. Ram, Editor in Chief of 'The Hindu', the prestigious Indian daily in
an exclusive interview with Sunday Observer staffer P. Muthiah talks about
the Sri Lankan peace process, the ISGA proposal, the Karuna Revolt and
says that India supports the peace process but will not repeat its
mistakes of the 1980s.
